


Collecting Potter

by Elfflame



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-12
Updated: 2007-12-12
Packaged: 2017-10-19 05:32:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/197465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elfflame/pseuds/Elfflame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Kabal</p>
            </blockquote>





	Collecting Potter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kabal42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kabal42/gifts).



The place was a dump, and Draco didn't want to stick around here any longer than absolutely necessary. All he could do was hope that the desk clerk had actually known what he'd been talking about when he said a man fitting Harry's description had come here a few days before.

6312...6313... Draco was doing his best to keep his hands or robes from brushing the walls. God knew what sort of fluids or other disgusting substances had been rubbed on them. Half the wallpaper was coming off. It was repellant.

6314...6315...6316. There. That was the door. Draco stepped over a puddle of something he wasn't sure he wanted to identify, then knocked hard, not sure if this was the sort of door that was more like paper or like brick. Frankly, he didn't care if he knocked it down, so long as he got Potter's attention.

When there was no answer after a moment, Draco knocked again. Harder. After all, the bloody thing hadn't been disintegrated with his first knock.

When it opened enough to show bleary green eyes, Draco sighed with relief. "What do you want..." The eyes opened wide in shock. "Malfoy?" Draco hid the flinch at the name. Then Harry was scowling. "Go away." He tried to shut the door, but Draco shoved his foot into the opening.

"No. It's taken me almost a month to find you. Shacklebolt says if you don't come back..."

"Tell him I quit. And get your foot out of the way," he growled, trying to close it again, slamming it hard against Draco's foot.

Draco's eyes watered, but he didn't pull away. "I said no, Harry..."

"Stop it!" The attempt to close the door ceased at that. "You have no right!"

"Why, Harry? Because I want you?"

"Fucking..." Harry's words became mutters as he realized they'd attracted a bit of attention. "Just...go away, Malfoy."

"No. Not until we talk. Which we can do in this hallway, or..."

Harry looked like he'd rather eat broken glass to break his fast, but he finally nodded and stepped back, pulling the door wider so that Draco could enter.

The room wasn't much better than the hall, and Draco cast a surreptitious cleaning spell on the only chair in the room before settling into it and looking up at the man who was now glaring down at him, his hair even more a mess than usual, and only wearing a pair of track pants that looked like they'd seen better days. He put on his glasses, though he still looked quite out of sorts. And angry. "So? Say what you've got to say, then get out. Cause I don't want to see your pointy face any longer than I have to."

Draco sighed, then dug in a pocket, and pulled out a vial, holding it out to Harry. "Here."

"What is it?" The expression on Harry's face said he clearly expected it to be poison.

"Veritaserum. Enough for twelve hours."

"What for?" Harry asked, not reaching for the vial. "I'm not taking it," he said sullenly.

"I wasn't going to ask you to. It's...for you…if you want to use it on me," Draco said, keeping an iron control on his feelings at the moment. If Harry chose to use it on him, he'd likely wind up a mess, but he intended to stay in control of his emotions as long as possible.

"You? And why would that make a difference, Draco? It wouldn't change what happened."

"No. But it might change your feelings about the fact it did. Harry...I liked being friends with you. I never--"

"Right," Harry snarled.

"You don't believe me? So use it! I'm not lying. I had no clue...If I had..." Draco licked his lips. "I'd have done something sooner."

Harry scowled, considering this. "Fine." He held out the bottle. "Take enough for an hour."

Draco nodded, surprised that Harry wasn't going to insist he take the whole thing. He swallowed several drops, then closed the vial, handing it to Harry and letting the feeling wash over him. It was like having fog fill your brain. Not the most pleasant feeling ever. But Harry was worth it. "There. Ask."

For some reason, even though Draco was the one who'd taken the concoction, Harry was the one who looked like a deer in the headlights. It took him a moment to think of anything to ask. "Why did you join the Aurors?"

"To prove that my name wasn't synonymous with the word Death Eater."

"Not to seduce me for your own purposes?"

"Harry...no." He rolled his eyes as the word slipped from his mouth unbidden. "That wasn't...I..." God, he hated feeling this way. "It was separate," he finally growled.

"Separate?" Harry's drawl was disbelieving at best.

"Yes," Draco, managing to keep himself from babbling on about it.

"So...you did want to seduce me when you joined?"

"Not...no...It..." Draco fought the potion pushing at him, but finally conceded, "Yes."

"Ha! I knew..."

"But it wasn't like that!" Even as Draco wanted to explain, he fought it at the same time. Particularly the need to be more honest than he'd ever been in his life. Especially with himself.

"Right. Then what was it, Malfoy?"

The name the way he said it felt sharper than glass, cutting through Draco. He met Harry's eyes. "It was just...a wish. A fantasy. Surely you've had those, Potter?" Two could play at the name game, and he found himself unaccountably pleased when Harry flinched at being called Potter.

"Then why seduce me?" He seemed a bit less sure now, but Draco still scowled at the question. It wasn't one that he wanted to answer. It would reveal too much. But then, he already had, he knew.

"I didn't. Not...exactly. You were just...so friendly."

Harry snorted. "Friendly. You mean drunk?"

"It's not like I force-fed you the things! Or made you keep draping yourself on me..." Even as he said so, he knew that those things didn't matter. The temptation had simply been too much.

He didn't expect Harry to agree with him, though. "No. You didn't." The words were quiet, and the look on Harry's face said that he didn't particularly like the direction his own thoughts were going.

"Wh-what?"

Harry was holding out the vial to Draco now. "Here."

"What is...what are you...why?" After all, he had a very good idea what Harry was suggesting, just not why he would, after everything else.

"Would you trust anything I said otherwise?"

Draco wanted to say yes. But the veritaserum wouldn't allow it. "I'd want to," was the best he could manage.

"Just a drop or two." Then Harry opened his mouth so that Draco could give him the proper dose.

After a moment or two of astonishment, Draco nodded and leaned forward, opening the vial and carefully shaking two drops onto Harry's tongue, his cheeks flushing at the memories associated with that tongue. "There." He capped it again. "So...?" He still wasn't entirely sure what Harry was going to tell him.

Harry took a deep breath. "Draco...I...wasn't drunk."

Hearing his name rather than the acid-laced "Malfoy" Harry had been using distracted him from the rest of the statement for a moment, but when it sank in... "Wait. What? When?"

"At the party. I was so annoyed with Hermione for inviting you..."

"I'd wondered about that."

Harry huffed a laugh. "She said if I didn't tell you that night, she'd tell you herself."

"Tell me?" Draco asked, confused.

"I..." Harry's cheeks went ruddy. "That I didn't want to be your friend."

Whatever Draco had been expecting, it hadn't been that. "Never mind," he said, standing up. "I'll just tell Shacklebolt you were eaten by a bugbear, shall I?" he asked acidly, looking away from him.

Harry grabbed his hand. "No! Wait. I didn't mean that..."

"I don't care, Potter. Just...go enjoy your life in peace. I'll leave you alone, now."

He tried to pull his hand from Harry's grasp, but Harry wouldn't let go. He stood up and pulled Draco closer. "I meant...I couldn't handle being... just friends. It was...driving me crazy."

Draco finally turned to look at him. "Just friends?" he asked softly.

Harry nodded. "Every time I turned around, there you were, Draco. And then, even when you weren't, you were. And..." Harry sighed. "I just...it was driving me mad. So...I thought...why not just get over you."

"Get...over me?" Draco tried to swallow, but his mouth was too dry. "So...did it work?"

Biting his lip, Harry shook his head.

"So...you decided to run away?"

"Well, what was I supposed to do, Draco? You never stay with anyone!"

Draco blinked at that, astonished. "What?"

Harry started counting on his fingers. "Blaise...you two were more off than on, but now you barely even give him the time of day. Smith...what was that, two dates before you tossed him aside? Pansy, Tracey, Pucey, Susan, Boot... None of them lasted." He sighed again, his voice softer now. "So why should I be any different? I didn't want to be another of your conquests. So I left."

If Draco hadn't been so astonished at how closely Harry had obviously been watching his love life, he might have laughed. "Harry...You aren't..." Draco struggled with himself, then pulled Harry closer, his hand reaching up to cup Harry's cheek. "They were just ways to pass time. Since I couldn't have who I wanted."

Green eyes looked up to meet his. "And...who did you want?"

It was the easiest question Harry had asked since he'd arrived. "You. You prat."

Harry still had a bit of that deer-in-the-headlights look, but it smoothed into a smile at the words. "Really?"

"I am still dosed, you know. It's not like I can outright lie."

The smirk that spread over Harry's face at that was quite Slytherin, and Draco's eyebrow rose. "So...if I were to ask how long...?" Harry asked slowly.

There was a momentary flash of panic inside Draco, then he realized the potion had released enough of its hold for him not to have to answer. "Don't push it, Potter."

Harry didn't seem displeased by the answer, though he made a face at the name. "Harry. Please."

"Harry," Draco said with a grin. And then he didn't bother with words any more. He just pulled Harry close, pressing their lips together, their bodies soon dropping to the bed to continue the explorations of each other that had begun a few weeks before. After all, Shacklebolt could wait a bit, couldn't he?

 _Fin_


End file.
